Easy Internet Cafes are Orange

Hello from Glasgow...again... Kind of funny that I don't update for a while and then have a bunch at once...maybe. Alright then.

So, we've started art (did I say that yesterday?). We went to the Glasgow Art School today, which was cool. Designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, which means it was pretty much genius. And gorgeous. Lots of random spaces and windows and color in different spots, yeah, anyway. Cool place to see.

I actually don't have much to say, I'm just kind of rambling because I have some extra internet time. Although it's starting to run low now. Okay then. Hopefully I'll get pictures up in the next post. I need to find some wireless internet places. Alrighty, see you then.

Trains = Best Way to Travel

We just arrived in Glasgow, so haven't seen much of it yet. The last few days we spent on the island of Iona, which was incredible. It was really tiny and green, there were cows and sheep, the water is so blue when it's sunny and a beautiful grey when it's stormy (we had a bit of both).

The hostel we stayed at is by far our favorite accommodations, and I think I speak for everyone. There was a great common room with a kitchen, with a huge wooden table, comfortable leather couches, a book corner, a wood burning stove, and wide windows with the most gorgeous views of the ocean.

We went to a ceildh (I think I spelled that completely wrong and it's pronounced "kaylee"), which is pretty much a dance night. Most of us had a great time learning the traditional dances and listening to the music. However, some went back to the hostel to study...

...porque our final exam was the next day. That's right everyone, I have taken a final exam and completed a whole class while the rest of you haven't even gone back to school. The day of the test, we pretty much studied all day and then took it really late (we decided when we wanted to take it, which was from 10pm-12am. Keith Beebe, our professor, was like, "You can function that late?").

Anyway, almost out of internet time. Lovely to chat with you.

If You Like Pina Coladas

Thought I'd post since I haven't in a while. No pictures this time, although I'll probably get some up before we leave Edinburgh. Today we visited Holyrood Palace, which is the Queen's Residence in Scotland, and Edinburgh Castle. Pretty cool stuff. Definitely gorgeous views. A bit too much commentary on the paintings and beds from the audioguide (a little is interesting, but I don't need to know the year that everything went through restoration when everything has gone through restoration, yeah, they talked a lot).

So, amusing story tonight. It was sunset outside, so we went out in the street to get a better view. We walked over to a nearby park, which is the type that is only open to residents of the area, but we decided to make an exception to get a better view of the sunset. But we couldn't get the gate open, so Jeff (who is tall) climbed over (this isn't a huge fence, but it was kind of difficult to get over), and I was like, "Hey, I'm kind of tall! Maybe I can get over too!" In theory this would have worked, but I didn't consider my clumsiness or bad luck, so it kind of ended with me lying on the ground on the other side after hitting my knee on a flagstone and my shoe sticking to the top of the fence (that was why I fell, actually, somehow my shoe got stuck? I don't know how it happened). Anyway, it was kind of funny, because I made the gate open. Not really sure how that happened either. Good thing for Becca, who is short, otherwise she probably wouldn't have gotten into the park. Anyway, good sunset.

Alrighty, headed off to bed. I've been staying up too late for the past few days. Okay then, hope you all have great lives.

I Have "Scotland the Brave" Stuck in My Head

Well, we're in Edinburgh. Haven't seen much of it yet. We took a short stroll down the Royal Mile where the highlight was a little kid urinating in the street. That was interesting... Beautiful city, though. And of course we love Scottish accents.

I think we might watch Braveheart tonight or something, because I'm just that awesome and I have the movie with me. Or we could not. We'll see.

I really like the hostel we're staying in. They have us divided into flats, and we each get our own little room as well as a common bathroom and kitchen for every six people. Party tonight, obviously.

Anyway, going to go do other internet things. TTFN.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

I've got pictures! Therefore I'm awesome. Alrighty, here goes it:

This is the first picture I took on the trip. A bit overexposed...oh well. Anyway, this is the statue of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, which was really close to our hotel in London.

There's London for you. Obviously Big Ben, and that's the London Eye peeking over the building on the left.

That's me preaching from John Wesley's pulpit (he's "The Father of Methodism"). We visited one of the churches he started and his house.

Coolest man in the world. His name is Peter, and he showed us around the Wesleyan Church area. He's standing next to John Wesley's grave.

The Rosetta Stone. During some free time in London, a group of us went to the British Museum and then Evensong at St. Paul's Cathedral. We're cool.

Tower Bridge. Not London Bridge. There were some confused people. I'm here to set the record straight.

I mean, look! The Tower of London is next to it.

The York Minster. We went down in the Undercroft, where they uncovered parts of an old Roman fort and the remains of an earlier Norman Cathedral on the same spot.

We went to church across the street at St-Michael-le-Belfrey's. This is where they sang contemporary church music in an old church (I'm talking stained glass and tombs and all that). We also met lots of really great people there.

On our way to Whitby, we stopped to take pictures of heather growing on the moor. I never really imagined it so...purple.

Whitby Abbey. A few of us were excited by the connection to Dracula by Bram Stoker. Awesomeness. And we were all, of course, excited by learning about St. Hild and Caedmon and the people connected with the place. We had class sitting in the ruins. We're just that awesome.

On our free day, I journeyed to Haworth with Meghan to visit the Brontë Parsonage. What can I say, I love Jane Eyre. It was definitely crazy to get there - two trains and a bus. Well worth it for the literary nerds like me, though.

The view from Charlotte Brontë's backyard. Umm...jealous, anyone?

Last picture for now. When we stayed in the dorms at the University of York, we took this really pretty little path through the "woods" to get from our rooms to the bus stop and visa versa. (The path starts at that dark spot in the trees on the left. It was sure fun at night).

Well, hope you enjoy the pictures. Sorry I don't have more with people in them, I'll have to work on that. Hope you all have a great day.

Just Leave it York, you Dork!

That was a quote from class yesterday. There have actually been a handful of really funny quotes, but I don't know if it's a "you had to be there" kind of thing. Or maybe not understanding them makes them funnier.

"Maybe we should just use another lion." - Me

"St. Cuthbert was a saint." - Keith

"Yeah, we thought it was weird too." - Becca

"Did someone say 'femur' at the same time as me?" -Katie O.

"All my children will wear meatskins." - Jeff

Anyway, that's the "Quote of the Day" list so far. Probably not as amusing if you don't have a clue what they mean. Oh well. Hmm, I need a quote for today.

So still here in York. Still haven't figured out how to connect to the wireless network at this internet cafe, so no pictures for you yet. I actually haven't been taking that many. Oops.

I had a mission during a break today. We had only a half hour or so, and I wanted to go to a National Trust gift shop to buy lemon squash (basically a very concentrated lemon drink - you're supposed to add water). So I found one, but they only had fizzy lemonade. So my friend Cheryl and I went to a park with the fizzy lemonade and little plastic cups and drank the whole bottle in 10 minutes. Cheryl was like, "It feels like we're drinking wine in a park" and I was like, "Yeah, this feels like taking shots." So that was fun. Then I had some pistachio ice cream, because some girls in my group were raving about it earlier. It was pretty good. There was like almond in it and stuff. And almonds are delicious. I should find some marzipan or something.

Anyway, we're going to hit a few pubs after this, so we'll see how that goes. Beer is pretty much the only alcohol I've encountered that I don't like, so we'll see if that changes. Probably not. Hmm... I'll find something. Hurray for lowered drinking ages.

Alrighty, better email the folks. Have an awesome day.

Oh look, I'm in the UK!

Well, it has been a while since I last posted! Did you miss it? Well, I'm back with a vengeance! Mwah ha ha!

Anyway, I'm in York. My sister thinks it's the most boring place in England, but I beg to differ. It's a beautiful historic city, if you ever have a chance to visit. I wouldn't say it's a "happening place," but not boring by any means.

We started in London, which is, obviously, amazing. Did a lot of the regular tourist stuff...Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, etc. Saw a lot of the same things I've seen before (this is my third time in England). But we went to the British Library, which was amazing. Never been there before. I was completely unprepared for it. I was like, "This is Captain Cook's actual journal? John Lennon wrote that song on this slip of paper? This is the original copy of Handel's "Messiah"?" Let me tell you, I was in heaven. Maybe I am meant to study history/English.

We took the train from London to York yesterday, which was good. I love train travel. And the English countryside is just gorgeous. I really want to move here someday. I've kind of always wanted to. At least for a few years. We'll see if that works out.

Anyway, York has been great so far. We're staying in dorm rooms, so I have my own room for like five days. Definitely works for my hermit-like nature. We went to a worship service at St.-Michael-le-Belfry this evening, which was amazing. It was like, "I'm singing this contemporary worship song that I know from home in a church that's 500 years old?" Definitely a mix of old and new, and I really liked it. Met a lot of nice people, too. I sat next to a woman named Annie, who is training to become a priest, and another couple who were very nice (I didn't learn their names, though). And after the service, a guy named Jack practically ran over to my friend Becca and me to meet us. Becca was very excited ("A guy came up to me? That's not usually the case!"). Anyway, he was really nice.

Alrighty, I should probably get going. I think I'm running out of internet in the next ten minutes, so I should probably go. Hopefully this post was inspiring (not sure why). Next time, I might be able to include a picture. Haven't really gotten internet on the laptop yet, but I should soon...

Anyway, I'll talk with you later! Hope everyone is having a good summer, and can't wait to see you all (actually, I can wait, but you know what I mean). Anyway, bye!

A Place For Lost Frogs

Good morning, everyone! At least, the sun is certainly rising here. Well, true to my procrastinating nature, and despite all my best intentions, I definitely waited until the last night to finish my last paper for my study abroad program. Well, not last last night, since I'm leaving tomorrow, but close enough. It's kind of dorky to pull your first all nighter in college when you're technically still on summer vacation, but I am wonderfully nerdy like that.

Anyway, my essay is going fabulously. I blame my euphoria on lack of sleep and abundance of caffeine. I still need to write 3 pages, and it definitely took me all night to write 9, so we'll see what time I really finish.

Today is also my official packing day. So, I need to be coherent enough to actually get it right and not leave behind all the super important things I can't travel without. Like, plane tickets.

Went to the movies last night with my family, and I decided to discuss upcoming previews with you. So, Peter Jackson's long awaited "King Kong" will finally be coming out in December (it's announced for the 14th, but I don't know if there's a chance they'll change it). I wouldn't say it looks like it will be my favorite movie ever, but I am looking forward to seeing it. So, obviously Naomi Watts is in it, which has been announced for a while. I wasn't sure until now who else was in it.

So, there's Jack Black (that'll be interesting - I don't know if I've ever seen him in a serious role. I keep thinking of him in "High Fidelity" with John Cusack). Also Jamie Bell (hurray Billy Elliot! Proving that lads can dance), Andy Serkis (well, he was Gollum. Andy wasn't in the preview I saw, so I'm guessing he provided the voice and movements for good old King Kong. Actually, that was a really lame joke and I really shouldn't even try this early in the morning. So we'll see what he does), Colin Hanks (I've only seen him in a really dumb teen movie, but I love his dad, so I'm willing to forgive him for questionable taste), and! And! Adrien Brody. I admit it, I have a crush on him. Wait, I said that about the guy in "Dead Poets Society." Well, the truth has come out. I really am the Ugly One. "I have a crush on every boy." If you got that, you're awesome. If not, umm... Anyway, back to Adrien Brody. I haven't actually seen him in anything, but I've always wanted to see "The Pianist." And now that I've been to Warsaw, duh, I have to! People are always telling me, "It's such a sad movie!" Hmm...I figured that one out for myself, actually. Anyway, should probably get around to that.

The other preview I am supremely excited about (if I was awake, I would never say "supremely excited") is "THE LEGEND OF ZORRO"!!! I've known about this one for a while, too, but I still can't get over it. Pretty sure "The Mask of Zorro" was my favorite movie for a while back there in middle school. So, I for one will be a huge dork running down to the theater to see it. Wait, will I even be in the country when it comes out? Probably not. Dangit. Who goes to movies on vacation?

Oh, one more movie I forgot to mention. Good old Burton/Depp collaboration again with "The Corpse Bride." I saw a preview for that months ago (when did you send me that link, Nina? Don't bother to answer that). I dunno, I liked the old preview better. I mean, it still looks like it will be good. I don't really know what I'm talking about. Maybe if I finish my essay, I can sleep for one or two hours!! That would be exciting. Wait, then it wouldn't be an all nighter. Might as well stay up. I have coffee. It's almost...drinkable. I'm like the lamest coffee drinker ever. My favorite ones are like Frappuccinos and stuff, which is coffee very diluted with milk and sugar, and I'm not really a fan of black coffee (the way the rest of my family drinks it...strange people). So, I only like the really light ones you get at like Starbucks and stuff, but I hate Starbucks because it's the Evil Empire and Luke needs to destroy it. Hmm...I started this paragraph talking about "The Corpse Bride." The fact that I have changed the subject like three times in one paragraph is kind of startling. I'm going to interpret that as "Get back to your essay, idiot." Okay then. Bye. I'll probably be in Europe next time I talk to you. So, haha to you. Wait, I'm the one pulling all nighters in August for twelve page essays. Umm, I guess the joke's on me. Okay, bye for real now.